Tuesday, November 23, 2010

He should have worked for TSA instead

Someone recently asked what my husband and I thought about the new TSA "enhanced" pat-downs. You know, the ones where travelers have to submit to being molested through their clothes in order to be allowed to fly, often simply at the caprice of whatever agent happens to be on duty. This is not an exaggeration - I cannot imagine any sane person who could allow a complete stranger to touch, squeeze, and probe their private parts through their clothes, or alternatively submit to a (very unhealthy) full-body scan that yields images of them without their clothes. Or, you may choose to walk out on your flight, and be threatened with a civil lawsuit by TSA.

"For a young child, especially one who has been told that strangers touching them in private places is taboo, the pat-down can be terrifying." [wow, Sherlock!]

"How can we get kids to feel comfortable with a procedure that in any other situation would be considered invasive? Fabrikant says, take a clue from the doctor's office. [...] Doctors and TSA agents now have something in common: they both have to perform invasive examinations of children to help prevent scary consequences — disease and terrorist attacks, respectively." [Does this sound creepy to anyone else?? I mean, we are talking about KIDS here. Not that the whole "terrorism" thing is even real, but come on - checking kids' groins prevents terror attacks? Seriously? And why do kids have to examined by doctors in these areas to prevent disease?? Someone is seriously off their rocker, perverted, or both.]

Another article says: "a security check [...] can still be traumatic – especially because it contradicts past chats you and your child may have had on "good" and "bad" touching. How can you reassure your child that all's well? At the airport or before you leave home on the day of your flight, explain the new security regulations in terms a child can understand. Talk about safety measures kids are already familiar with – like seat belts and smoke detectors." [Let's see, both seat belts and smoke detectors are inanimate objects that are solidly installed somewhere and never move. They don't tell you to stand with your feet apart, as they slowly slide their hands up the inside of one of your thighs, across the private area where they FEEL AND POKE AROUND, and down the inside of the other thigh. Ladies also have their breasts groped and squeezed. I don't know what kind of car the idiot who wrote this stupid article wrote drives, but my seat belt has never attempted any such thing.]

In any case, these children are being brainwashed that it is okay for government agents to touch them like that, but anytime anyone else does it, it is considered molestation. I mean, with the government takeover of the health care system, doctors, nurses, and TSA agents all work for the same Big Daddy. Well, at least one pediatrician in the area was not quite the saint he was supposed to be. And then, shock of shocks, he fled house arrest a couple of months ago. So Kent Hovind goes to federal prison for 10 years for supposed tax evasion, while a pediatrician distributing child p*rn on the internet gets house arrest that is not even very well supervised.

Next, we will be told that police can carry out these same "pat-downs" because, after all, they work for the government, and thus are god-like and always above reproach. And while we are at it, kids on their way into school should be subject to the same procedures, but again, no worries - we'll have teachers doing it, because being government workers, they can do no wrong. We need to trust them more.

All this reminded me of a guy I read about in the local news last week. This 62-year old man was a school bus driver until last year, when there was an (unsuccessful) investigation into allegations of child molestation. Just last week, he was booked on two separate counts of child molestation, and aggravated assault, after luring a 9-year old girl into his car. "[T]he victim disclosed that her attacker touched her buttocks while she was standing outside of his car, police said. She also stated he touched her private parts over her clothing with his hand, while she was sitting on the front passenger seat" If he had been working for TSA, this would have been just another day at the office.

Whatever happened to "Give me liberty, or give me death"? This country was founded by men who would rather DIE than give up freedom. Yet today, we are scared of the boogieman. Now, I cannot even fly anywhere without risking that my children or I myself will be molested. Which means, I will not be flying anywhere. And people still think we live in a free country? What else do they have to do before everyone wakes up and smells the coffee?

28 comments:

I wouldn't put it past a terrorist to hide explosives on their child...

But there is a reason why Israel has the safest airlines in the world. Would that America would adopt their policies and procedures. I mean, come on! Even some common sense would work. When a guy is on a watch list, pays cash for a one-way ticket, etc., you just might want to interview him a little more closely.

I am so glad you mentioned Creation Science teacher Kent Hovind. We must remember him and his family in prayer. His videos are great. I would refuse to fly - especially with my children. My grandchildren will grow up thinking things like this are normal.

When I wrote on Facebook that this stuff was sexual abuse, Christian people got all over me. When I said they were justifying abuse, one deleted me and told me never to contact her again. I know this woman. WHY on earth are Christians justifying sexual abuse for any reason? I guess it comes from the mentality that war is ok too.

While I think you're being a bit (just a bit) extreme, I'm with you. The reaction - from CHRISTIANS, who support everything about this so-called "war on terror," - is that people should quit whining because it's for our own good.

My 13 yr old daughter was subject to a pat-down. It was probably because she was wearing a sweatshirt (a bit too large for her) in July, because she often finds the planes are cold and wearing it is easier than carrying it through the airport. On the way back, I was subject to a pat-down. I don't know why other than I was wearing a long skirt and my athletic shoes, which made me look a little like a "fundamentalist" of some kind in the TSA's mind. Neither agent "groped" us, but it is certainly NOT something anyone would so willingly agree to go through if any other stranger were to say, "I would like to pat you down."

What about that man in Boston whose ostomy bag broke and he ended up having to ride the plane soaked with the urine the bag held? He should not have had to suffer the embarassment and physical discomfort he did. But thank goodness those people on the plane were assured that he wasn't carrying a bomb in his ostomy bag!

I didn't like my daughter being patted down this Summer and I shudder to think about it now.

back in July, these new and "enhanced" patdowns were not being used. This is a new procedure the TSA started using very recently, to combat the increasing number of people refusing the "naked body scanners". Most would much rather be scanned, than to be assaulted like that. It's a very new thing.

You know what? I refuse to fly anything but small domestic flights (the airport for Northwest Arkansas is very nice; only one terminal and security is fast and easy). I don't know what the radiation of these "full body scanners" can do to my reproductive organs (as well as the rest of my body) and I refuse to be a victim. You know, I'd rather get blown up on a plane than have so many Americans suffer this... rape! Ugh it disgusts me!!

Uggg...I cannot stand this new policy. We do fly on ocassion, but I assure you...we will NOT be flying anymore! I cannot subject my children or myself to this outrageous behaviour...it's like a free for all for perverts!! YUCK!!!

This is definitely an outrageous and constitutionally WRONG policy. Our country is headed down the toilet.

We are a missionary family with 8 small children. We fly often. Our little girls wear long dresses. We have taught them of modesty - even my two year old would not let someone touch her.

We are planning on flying in about thre months. We do NOT want to subject our children to the new radiation devices especially our baby or me incase I am expecting.

We do not know what to do. Tonight my husband thought we could take a ship instead. That would cost us about two thousand more dollars. We will pray about this. We are handing over our freedms in the name of security.

My toddler and I had five trips planned for next year that would have required planes, with my husband accompanying on three. Now two are outright cancelled, one will be by train instead, and the remaining two are too far for train, but might be cancelled anyway.

It's disturbing that these new pat-downs are finger-tip pat-downs, meaning the pads of the fingers must be used, and it's every non-visible inch of the body. Faces won't be touched if they'e visible, but our genitals are fair-game now.

I refuse to have my daughter's naked body viewed by someone in a booth. It's a lie that the images aren't saved. Someone just recently was busted for saving tens of thousands of the images. I refuse to have her touched in appropriately by strangers. This job is a pedophile's dream!

I have family that are missionaries in Asia. They were due to fly home shortly after the holidays. Now they are not coming to America. And as long as exposing nakedness (AIT scanners) or molestations (enhanced pat-downs) are in place, they will not be coming to America. As Christians, this is not about "giving up our freedoms." This is about not sinning against God by showing our nakedness to other people.

I hope you "pay a few thousand" more for the ship. My family does not have that option. That means that I can never see them or my neeses and nephews.

It is so sad about how far TSA has gone. I personally won't fly right now. I hope that a lot of people will refuse to fly for this reason and it will make the airlines suffer financially. Then airlines will complain to the government.

I fully support security measures to prevent terrorists from boarding an airplane. But the truth is the body scanners will not help to prevent determined terrorists. A terrorist could put explosives up his rectum.

It is insane about how they are having so many innocent people go through virtual strip body scanners and invasive pat downs.

I am afraid that people are going to get desensitizied to TSA. As you know, many people are desensitizied that it's okay for doctors to always touch their private parts.

For once I agree 100%! just recently a tsa employee was caught [***] looking at images of young women! Another agent was also brought into media attention after a reporter went through the full body scan with 2 12 inch razor blades hidden and they let him board the plane! So clearly the new procedures aren't even effective. What concerns me most is the possible cancer causing effects of the x Ray machine. Estimates say that people who fly once a year for 20 years will have a 1 in 500,000 chance of getting cancer specifically from the machine, while people who fly the same amount will have a 1:9 MILLION chance of getting killed by a terrorist. I will try to find sources for that info I can't remember right now. So basically we have to choose between subjecting our babies to cancer or inappropriate touching. What about rape survivors? Wouldn't that be quite triggering for them? Just disgusting. This issue seems to be one that cnservatives and liberals can both agree on don't you think?

Note from Zsuzsanna: This comment was left anonymously. I edited the first sentence to take out a word that was too crass to use on a family website, and published the comment otherwise unedited. ~ Zs.

to be sure, there is terrorism against America, or rather the American people.

However, it is not coming from where our government would have us believe it is coming from. They themselves are the terrorists.

To terrorize someone means to make them scared, or afraid. The US government is the biggest fear monger.

Aside from all else, I am firmly convinced that the 9/11 attacks were a false-flag attack carried out by our own government. They made everyone so scared that we have not only financed a senseless "war" to the tune of trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lost lives, but also come to accept the complete erosion of our civil liberties.

Did you hear about the man (a bladder cancer survivor) who was humiliated when his urine bag spilled all over the place because of a TSA patdown? Or the little boy who was strip searched to avoid the patdown? Parents of autistic children are avoiding flying now because their children can't stand to be touched. Be prepared to lose all your dignity when flying the friendly skies.

I have been angry about these pat downs in the past and the new policy just has me livid. My mother is disabled and in a wheel chair, she flys down to visit with us about once a year. The last time she came they searched her because they could not send her chair through the scanner they had at the air port. This was before the new finger tip policy but was still out of line. They pushed her into a glass room, and one woman lifted her up by her armpits and held her while the other patted her down! It was horribly degrading and under this new policy it would just be worse.

I will never fly as long as the scans and pat downs are in effect, my body is for my husband only, not the person on the scanner or in the pat down room.

I hadn't even thought of the cancer risks, my father flies many times a year due to his job, often more than once a week. How many of these scans and how much radiation over time are they going to subject him to? It's mind numbing.

Only in this day and age can you get away with molesting children, the disabled, and everyone else in the name of safety.

Never commented on your blog before. I don't agree 100% with a lot of your stances, but I do agree with you on this. I saw on CNN the man who had a urine bag due to being a bladder cancer survivor, and the TSA agent popped it, soaking the poor guy. I heard on the radio about a little 3yr old girl getting the full pat-down because she threw a fit when her teddy bear was taken away to go through the scanner. Through the whole thing she was screaming "Stop touching me!" There was a woman who was forced to show her prosthetic breast to a TSA agent - and she was a flight attendant trying to get to work! There was a six year old boy traumatized by the full pat down, and an 8 year old boy who the dad had taken his shirt off to prove he had nothing underneath it, but still had to go through the full pat down on his lower half. And who can forget the "If you touch my junk I'll have you arrested" guy? He decided he would rather not fly than go though a pat down, after being told they would have to touch him, and was stopped by TSA, threatened with arrest, and a $10,000 fine. And these are just the ones who've made it in the news. What other things have been done to other people that haven't made it in the news?

Well, if you know anything about MK Ultra, than it won`t come as a surprise to you that they are traumatizing us on purpose. This is NOT because of terrorism, this is intended to transform people into puppets who one day will allow the gouvernment to plant the RFID chip into their hands or foreheads (see Revelation 13).

I am flying in December and I was terrified about the enhanced pat downs. As a multiple persons rape and molestation victim the idea of a stranger "molesting" me terrifies. However, I have a friend who works for the TSA. I talked extensively with him about the process and asked him to perform the procedure on me as I trust him. I needed to know what to expect, so I could reduce the chances of having a violent flashback in the airport. As someone who has been molested and raped, I was shocked. It was a little uncomfortable, but much less uncomfortable then a doctors visit or even what the cops do. I am angry that people are calling this molestation. It is insulting to those of us who have experienced such a crime! It is not invasive. It is an uncomfortable procedure that is over in less than 20 seconds. Do I like it? No. But it is not molestation. Trust me, none of you are going have nightmares, or deep psychological damage from this. If it was "molestation" you would. Trust me, I know.

The new pat downs are crazy! The TSA now recommends (doesn't require, but recommends) that women not wear underwire bras because they may set off the metal detector -- thus requiring the full scan or enhanced pat down. They also advise against wearing skirts as agents can put their hands up a ladies skirt as part of the new enhanced procedure. Truly disgusting!!!

so am I assuming correctly that you have not flown yet? In which case, you really do not know what they will actually do at the airport.

According to the TSA's own words, this enhanced patdown takes 2 to 4 minutes, not 20 seconds. Maybe your friend from TSA was performing one of the regular, past patdowns on you. And no, police patdowns do not include probing the private parts, and squeezing women's breasts. Unless maybe you get some freak pervert cop, which I guess there is a good chance of that happening.

The school bus driver who touched the girl through her clothes was charged with molestation by the prosecution, so I am hardly the one who came up with calling it that on my own.

Why you are so quick to assume that nobody else commenting on this thread has been a victim of rape and/or molestation I do not know.

I said nothing about any one else on this thread. It is possible that there are other victims. I was writing from my personal views as well as the views of my surviver group. And I have flown in the past months. I actually flew into Spain a few weeks ago where their pat down is much more invasive.

My friend just did a pat down around the genital areas, so it did not take the full 2-4 minutes. I don't like the patdowns, what is bothering me is that people are comparing them to molestation and rape which they are not! A woman with gloves running her hands down the inside of my thighs and around the outside of my bra while my friend is right next to me is different from a man or woman touching my genital areas over or under my clothes (like the bus driver), hurting me, ripping my clothes off, and reducing me to a bloody pulp.

Hi, while re-entering Canada from Europe I recently underwent a patdown and they seemed to have been toned down (Canada's are or at least were just as bad as the US's). It wasn't bad, they sort of went over my chest and thighs but avoided the genital area and only touched the very outside of the breast (where it's practically the armpit). You MUST go with someone of the same gender, it's the rule, and they have gotten a lot gentler. I still don't agree with the law, but it's not enough to keep me out of the air. So if you're worried about future trips, they have worked out a lot of the bugs by now.

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